


Fourteen Million to One

by tunastork (mariexa)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Dimension Travel, M/M, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Steve Rogers-centric, no beta we die like men, some time travel mind fuckery is going on my dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22240942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariexa/pseuds/tunastork
Summary: Six months after Thanos, six months after Tony’s death, six months after Steve returns to his own timeline, Tony Stark turns up on their doorstep.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 189





	Fourteen Million to One

At sixteen past six in the afternoon FRIDAY detects an energy signature within the compound. Sam and Bucky gear up and leave Steve alone with their half-eaten dinner. 

Sixteen minutes after that, Sam calls for him through FRIDAY. He says, “You better get down here, you’re gonna want to see this,” 

Six minutes after, his rickety old bones finally reach the common area. 

Six seconds later, his heart stops.

Standing there in between Sam and Bucky is _Tony_. Talking, gesturing wildly, eyes shining, and alive. _Alive. Alive. Alive._

Steve feels his knees give out, he tries to reach the wall for support. Everything that was taken away comes rushing back to him, the solid wall in his hand, the warm air circulating the compound, the smell of gunmetal, color and sound, _sound, gods_ , that’s _Tony_ , and he’s _talking_. That’s his voice and Steve can hear it again, 

“So bird junior, you’re Captain America now huh? What gives? Where’s the other one? Do you have another one? You know big, blonde, with a perfectly pert a--”

“Steve,” Bucky says over Tony’s excessive rambling “You alright?” 

All eyes turn to Steve and he sees the moment Tony realizes what he had become, and for all the thoughts that is muddled up in his head all he could think of is that he honestly can’t wait for all the old man jokes that’s gonna come his way. 

“Oh, I’m really a long way from home huh,” Tony says, and it’s him, it’s _him, flesh and bone it’s him._

Before he could fall even further, Bucky comes over to him and tries to lead him to the nearest place to sit, but Steve doesn’t let him. Instead he walks over to Tony,

“How did you do it?” Steve feels the smile form on his face. He feels warmth rushing to his chest, his heart a thousand times lighter, he feels like he’s flying, because _of course, of course_ , if anyone can cheat death it’s Tony. 

Tony gives him a confused look “How did I do what?”

Steve falters.

“Steve,” Sam warns, getting in between him and Tony. Gently he places his hands on Steve’s shoulders, compelling him to look at Sam. 

He doesn’t like what he sees. In Sam’s eyes there is pain, sympathy, and then there’s pity. “He’s not our Tony,” he says.

And Steve falls. 

In the span of six minutes, Steve was built up and torn back down, and it’s still Tony, at least some form of Tony, but still — _only Tony Stark has the power to do that to him_. 

Sam tells him that this Tony is from another timeline, a timeline where they’re still doing the Time Heist, and a jump went awry so Tony was transported to the safest space possible. Sam tells him that they’ve checked, multiple times, multiple tests, and this Tony was not a skrull, nor an illusion, but it’s not _their_ Tony,

“We can’t let anyone else know then,” Steve adds

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Sam agrees, and then he hesitates for a second and then goes for it still, “but I wanted you to know, you — ” 

Steve claps Sam’s shoulder, “Thank you, Sam.” Steve thinks he at least tried to smile, but it didn’t seem convincing with the way everyone else was looking at him. Steve turns away, not looking at this not Tony, his body aching something fierce, he needs to sit. 

Bucky gently guides him to one of the lazy chairs the team keeps specifically for him, and not six paces in, Bucky and Sam draw their weapons and a voice speaks, 

“Tony?” 

And standing there is another Captain America. Another Steve Rogers.

In the midst of all the weapons drawn and the tension in the air, Tony smiles. 

— 

Steve wants to take this Captain America by the arms and shake some sense to him. He wants to tell him what could happen, what he could lose. But Steve is spent. 

“I don’t suppose you have extra infinity stones lying around that we could borrow, do you?” Cap asks

“No, sorry, we don’t want to deal with that shit anymore,” Sam answers “We chucked all of them in a garbage disposal,”

Tony lets out a scoff “Sounds about right,” he whispers, then he turns to his Steve, and Cap turns ever so slightly to face him, like instinct, like second nature, “Okay spangles, time to blow this popsicle stand,” 

“The device is stable?” 

“Do you trust me?” Tony playfully asks Cap.

“You know I do,” He answers with an exasperated sigh only years of experience with Tony could muster. To Steve’s surprise, Cap takes Tony’s hand in his. Oh.

Tony punches in the coordinates to his and Cap’s wristband. They look at each other, Cap’s hands still in Tony’s, and they share a small smile, and it’s like everybody else faded into the background for them. 

(And Steve yearns for it, yearns for his Tony ~~not yours never yours~~ he feels the longing and loss crush his chest, compressing his lungs, gripping his heart and he can’t breathe, f _or the love of him he can’t because he had that._ He had that once upon a time but he blew it.)

Cap squeezes Tony’s hand tighter before he lets go. He punches it. He disappears. And Tony-- _oh Tony_. 

Tony is still here, and he’s staring a mile ahead like he often does when he thinks about the future, but in all of Steve’s memory of Tony, he has never looked this lost.

“Fourteen million to one, that’s what Strange said.” Tony whispers, hand above the button that would send him back home. “I’m going to die aren’t I?”

“It doesn’t have to be that way, you don’t know,”

“No, but I do know. Thanos knew.” 

And Tony looks around at the view of the lake near the compound, at the furniture, the kitchen, the art on the walls, the little items scattered around that makes it feel like a home. He’s looking around taking it all in, like he’s memorizing it, like he’s saying goodbye.

“A bit different than what I remember,” He says, voice strained. 

“We had to remodel,” Sam says, and Tony snaps out of his trance, eyes landing on Sam, remembering he is still there. His eyes then automatically gravitate to Steve’s, but Steve lowers his head and doesn’t look back.

Moments pass and metal hands cup his chin and raises his head, his eyes lift and all he could see is Tony, _Tony tony tony_ , and the light shining like a halo around him.

“We have a kid,” Tony whispers in the softest voice he could muster, “We named him James,” 

In his very very long life Steve often wondered how it would feel like being loved by Tony Stark. Being looked at like he was Tony’s whole world. Being looked at without anger, resentment, fear, and pain. Without _guilt_. He wondered and wondered until he became old and gray. Until he no longer remembered the exact color of Tony’s eyes.

(Who is he kidding, he never forgot, he will never forget, he was the one who closed them)

And now under the gaze of this _other_ Tony Stark, this Tony who is holding his face like he’s gold, and precious, and _his_. This Tony who caresses the fine lines in his eyes and cheeks, touching him without an ounce of hesitance. Looking at him with a trust once broken but built again piece by _every_ painful piece. This is what it feels like to be loved by Tony Stark, he finds out, albeit a bit warped, unable to shake off the feeling of _not quite right, not quite mine ~~not yours never yours~~_

Sixty years and some later, he finds out. 

_And he still can’t have him._

(Sixty years and some later and he still manages to _hurt._ )

“Old age suits you, Steve,” Tony says with a pained smile marring his beautiful face, “I’m glad I got to see it, one way or another.” There are tears in his big brown eyes and Steve wants to wipe them away. 

“I wish we had more time,” Tony whispers

And in a flash he was gone. 

“Me too,” whispers Steve “Me too,” but the one person who needed to hear it isn’t here anymore. 

**Author's Note:**

> hhhhhh imma be honest this fic has been sitting in my drafts forever and i thought why the hell not?
> 
> okay so that Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were from a timeline where the snap still happened but they in the five year gap they rebuilt their relationship and made a life of their own. Sadly, Tony still had to go
> 
> (cause I'm an angst fiend and I live for it)
> 
> -
> 
> leave a comment and I'd love you forever


End file.
